Natural gas is the cleanest burning fossil fuel and is abundantly available in many parts of the world. Natural gas produces 30% less carbon dioxide than oil and 45% less carbon dioxide than coal per MMBtu (million British Thermal Unit) of energy consumed. Although the U.S. is the largest consumer of natural gas in the world, North America as a whole represents only 4 percent of the proved global reserves.

The Pacific Basin, however, is blessed with richly abundant reserves of natural gas. The majority of the natural gas fields are so-called "stranded reserves," located too far from major demand centers for their natural gas to be brought to market by pipelines. The only way to safely and economically transport these stranded natural gas reserves to market is in its liquid state, in the form of liquefied natural gas which has 1/600th the volume of natural gas.

In total, gas producers along the Pacific Basin now supply approximately 50% of LNG consumed globally and a significant amount of liquefied natural gas to the economies of Japan, Taiwan, Korea, and even as far away as Europe. The Asia Pacific producers plan to more than double capacity to over 20 Bcf/d by 2015, and NorthernStar will capitalize on this growing supply of LNG from the Pacific Basin to benefit consumers in the U.S.

NorthernStar's West Coast LNG Terminals are needed to increase regional gas supply and reliability by allowing these markets to access the abundant reserves of natural gas in the Pacific Basin regions.

Cost-effective, environmentally friendly and safe, liquefied natural gas represents the best way to access far off and abundant natural gas reserves in order to increase natural gas supply, providing North American consumers with a long-term, environmentally superior and low-cost source of clean-burning energy.